Less than 24 hours after Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration to become Donald Trump’s attorney general, the president-elect named former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his next nominee to head the Department of Justice Justice Department (DOJ).

“For too long, the partisan Justice Department has been weaponized against me and other Republicans – not anymore. Pam will refocus the DOJ on its intended purpose: fighting crime and making America safe again. I have known Pam for many years – she is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a great job as Attorney General!” Trump praised on Truth Social.

Bondi previously served as Florida’s attorney general from 2011 to 2019. In 2020, she served as a senior adviser during Trump’s first impeachment trial, and in 2024 she headed the Center for Litigation at the America First Policy Institute, a right-wing think tank at the center of the Trump administration’s agenda.

After her final term as Florida AG, Bondi joined lobbying firm Ballard Partners, whose partner Brian Ballard was one of Trump’s top fundraisers. Bondi worked as a registered lobbyist for Qatar. Bondi was named as part of Trump’s defense team for the 2020 Senate impeachment trial.

Bondi’s career has been marked by several fundraising controversies, including a $25,000 donation in 2013 from the Donald J. Trump Foundation to then-Florida AG while Bondi was assessing whether to investigate 22 fraud claims against Trump University. After the donation, Bondi, who was preparing for a 2014 re-election campaign, declined to take action against Trump University.

In 2016, Trump aides said his foundation had made a mistake with the Bondi donation, a possible violation of federal rules that ban charities from supporting political candidates.